Accordingly, in this course has more than 10 young pilots of
the military forces will be trained.

At the ceremony, Colonel Nguyen Van Vinh, director of the
center, said this tag will use the center by the company aircraft Eurocopter EC
120 (France) production to train pilots. This type of small aircraft, only one
engine. Saving the third training costs, reduce flight hours.

Meanwhile, former major aircraft used to train every hour to
spend U.S. $ 3500-3800.

More importantly, the use of EC 120 aircraft will take the
initiative to train human resources for mission pilots flying commercial,
professional fields.

The aircraft is also consistent with the major aircraft
systems Eurocopper existing pilot corporations should be advantages to moving
aircraft.

Speaking at the ceremony, Major-General Ha Tien Dung,
general director of Vietnam Helicopter Company, the center and asked the pilots
are trained to study, training not only to domestic flights but also to
integration of pilot proficiency international, can work independently,
self-control in all situations.

On behalf of the pilots are trained in this course, sergeant
Do Xuan Hoang will confirm the students, teachers overcome difficulties,
serious study to master modern means, conquering the sky, available ready to
receive and fulfill the tasks assigned by superior.

Since its inception (February 8-2004) to date, the training
center has opened dozens of pilot training, perform 2300 hours of flight
safety.

After the ceremony, the pilots were using EC 120 transport
aircraft flying demonstration leaders, visiting three turns around Vung Tau sky
and landed safely.

The ARV will be used to support the 66 Krauss Maffei Wegmann
Leopard 2A4 Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) already in service with the SAF. Final
deliveries of the ARVs were made in 2011.

Germany
supplied 96 Leopard 2A4 MBTs to Singapore
: the remaining 30 were used for spares. The Leopards have replaced obsolete
AMX-1 3 light tanks that are being phased out.

The SAF Buffel ARVs are based on refurbished Leopard 2
hulls, with work carried out at Rheinmetall facilities at Kassel
and Kiel. They
have the same capabilities a new production ARVs and are fully equipped with
winches, a hydraulic crane on the right side of the hull and a dozer/stabilizer
blade at the front.

While the Buffel ARV has been sold to Germany (75), Greece
(12), the Netherlands (25), Spain (16), Sweden
(14) and Switzerland
(25), this is the first sale of refurbished platforms.

Canada,
which is following Singapore
by ordering eight Buffel ARVs based on rebuilt Leopard 2 hulls, leased two
Buffels from the German Army to support its Leopard 2 MBT deployment to Afghanistan. A
Rheinmetall upgrade to these ARVs prior to their deploymentn included an
enhance protection package and air conditioning.

The SAF are also looking to replace their M60 based ArmouredVehicleLaunchedBridge (AVLBs) and M728
Combat Engineer Vehicles (CEVs).

It is understood that Singapore is the first customer for
the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann developed Leopard 2 Leguan AVLB, which has full
armour protection and can launch one 26 m or two 14 m bridges horizontally over
the front of the hull. By comparison, the M60 AVLB is fitted with a 19.2 m long
scissors bridge that can span a gap of up to 18.2 m.

Singapore
is also believed to be planning to replace the M728 CEV with a platform based
on a modified Leopard 2 hull. One such contender could be the Kodiak Armoured
Engineer Vehicle (AEV), which is in production in Switzerland after being developed
as a private venture y RUAG Defence and Rheinmetall. The Kodiak has been sold
to the Netherlands (10), Switzerland (12) and Sweden (six).

Another contender could be the Wisent 2 Leopard Support
Vehicle, which was developed by German company FFG and is also based on the chassis
Leopard 2. The AEV version of the Wisent has been sold to Canada.

TSAMTO -
Thailand plans to increase defense spending in FY 2013 7% - up to 180.8 billion
baht (5.7 billion dollars). According to the budget committee of the
government, the military budget in 2013 fiscal year 7.5% of total government
spending, or about 1.45% of GDP.

According to
"Jane's Defence Industry" in 2013 fiscal year that begins in October
2012, the needs of the Army will be sent to the country about half of the
allocation for defense appropriations. Army will be 88.8 billion baht, Navy and
Air Force - 35.2 and 33.9 billion baht, respectively.

The
remaining 13 billion baht will be allocated between the Royal Guard, the
Ministry of Defense and the Institute of Defence Technologies (DTi).

Funding DTi,
established in 2008 to grow the most - by 35% (up to 1.2 billion baht). This
step is carried out under the leadership of Thailand's efforts to increase the
capacity of the national defense industry and research in the field of defense.
In defense research organizations in Thailand have been some successes. In
particular, in 2011 produced a prototype of the DTi MRL based on 302-mm setting
WS-1 produced in China (Institute acquired the project and related technologies
in China in 2009).

According to
experts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), resulting in devastating
floods that occurred in 2011, the loss of the country amounted to nearly 50
billion dollars, bringing the country's GDP in 2011 will increase by only 0.1%.

At the same
time, according to April's review of "World Economic Outlook," IMF
experts believe that the Thai economy is the fastest growing in the region of
Southeast Asia over the next two years. According to the forecast, Thailand's
GDP will grow by 5.5% in 2012 and 7.5% in 2013.

Wellington
New Zealand — New Zealand’s Defence Force (NZDF) has done relatively well with
only a slight reduction in its overall budget for 2012-2013, according to released
budget figures.

As usual,
the Army takes the largest slice of the overall 2.9 billion New Zealand dollar
($2.2 billion) defense budget, down from 2.91 billion New Zealand dollars from
the previous year. Last year, the Army’s budget was 832 million New Zealand
dollars and this year rises to 845 million New Zealand dollars.

However, the
Royal New Zealand Air Force enjoys a more than 5 percent budget increase, from
670 million New Zealand dollars to 790 million, while the Royal New Zealand
Navy saw its funding fall by more than 4 percent, to 6.62 billion New Zealand
dollars.

Although the
overall defense budget has diminished slightly, most NZDF capabilities will
enjoy more funding.

Only a few
capabilities have had their funds cut, including the budget for land combat
forces, reduced by 3 million New Zealand dollars to 362 million.

The
appropriation for the Secret Intelligence Service has been significantly
reduced, by 4 million New Zealand dollars to 37 million.

Among the
capabilities with more funding is the awkwardly named Airborne Surveillance and
Response Force of six P-3K Orions — currently being upgraded to P-3K2 standard
— with a jump from 165 million to 178 million New Zealand dollars. Funding for
the Navy’s patrol force, consisting of two offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) and
four inshore patrol vessels (IPVs), increases from 129 million New Zealand
dollars to almost 137 million.

But more
money doesn’t always mean more activity. Last year, the IPV fleet fell almost
200 days short of mission availability days — only 847 of the targeted 1,038 —
and for the new fiscal year that target has been reduced to 749 mission
available days.

In practical
terms, this means it is likely that one or even two of the four IPVs will be
spending more time alongside, unavailable for tasking or days at sea.

Similarly,
although the budget for the Air Force’s helicopters, with NH90s and A109s
replacing Iroquois and Sioux, has expanded by no less than 75 percent, it will
be some time before the new helicopters are fully operational, although the
Navy has already made more than 100 proving flights with the A109 to and from
its OPVs.

Appropriations
for the Ministry of Defence include 160 million New Zealand dollars for “the
purchase, modification, or refurbishment of major items of defence equipment”
for the NZDF.

Not least,
the Government Communications Security Bureau enjoys a funding hike from 57
million New Zealand dollars to 64 million.

The
Australian Army’s fleet of Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters (ARH) has returned
to regular training activities following the lifting of a temporary suspension
that was put in place on 16 May 2012 due to the detection of fumes in the cockpit
of the aircraft.

The Army
Operational Airworthiness Authority lifted the suspension late yesterday
following a detailed assessment and a recommendation from the Technical
Airworthiness Authority to resume flying operations.

There are 22
ARH in the Australian Army’s Oakey and Darwin based fleet, 19 of which are in
the fully capable configuration operating in the fleet.

The ARH will
soon deploy on Army’s largest annual foundation warfighting exercise. Exercise
Hamel will be conducted in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area over three weeks
from 21 June.

The Navy has
successfully conducted trials of flying an SH-2G Seasprite helicopter from the
deck of one of its Offshore Patrol Vessels, HMNZS OTAGO, marking a significant
milestone in achieving the ship's full operational potential.

The trials
have been conducted over the past month during which the Seasprite conducted
161 landings and takeoffs from OTAGO’s flight deck. The landings and takeoffs were done by day
and by night in varying wind and sea conditions in the Hauraki Gulf and the Bay
of Plenty sea areas.

"Operating
helicopters from ships underway at sea is one of the most challenging
activities any Navy undertakes," says Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral Tony
Parr. "We have been flying helicopters from the frigates for many years,
but now we are learning how to operate these aircraft from a different ship
with different characteristics."

The trials
proved that the Seasprite can conduct an airborne surveillance task from the
OPV of up to 2.5 hours duration, which should enable 4500 square nautical miles
to be covered in a single sortie by day or night.

"The trials have proven the helicopter
can operate off the ship across a wide range of sea and wind conditions. Although it will be some time before the full
potential is released the Navy can now begin helicopter operations during which
time we will continue to learn and develop our capability."

The two
Offshore Patrol Vessels—OTAGO and WELLINGTON— are large, complex vessels that
operate from the freezing cold of the Southern Ocean to the tropical heat of
the Pacific Islands, giving New Zealand a broad patrol and surveillance
capability.

"The
ability to land a helicopter on a ship underway at sea by day and night in
different wind and sea conditions requires a rigorous and demanding test
programme to determine what the limits of operation might be," said
Admiral Parr. "The team in OTAGO, which included a number of RNZAF
Seasprite technicians, were often operating in challenging conditions. Nevertheless the trials were completed in a
thoroughly professional, safe and timely manner.

"There
will still be a considerable period of learning as we gain experience operating
the aircraft on actual deployments."

The PAF said
the order is among 38 contracts that the air branch of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines will sign this year. Delivery of the aircraft is expected in two
years.

“Within the
year we expect to sign contracts. We have 38 projects lined up, foremost of
which is the FAA lead-in fighter trainer or LIFT. We have attack helicopters
coming, light transports and medium transports that are slightly smaller than
the C-130 cargo plane” currently in use, PAF spokesperson Col. Miguel Okol
said.

“They have
been approved by the senior leadership (of the Department of National
Defense),” he added.

He said the
rest of the 38 contracts were still being finalized.

From being
one of the best in Southeast Asia during the 1960s, the Air Force fleet
gradually deteriorated and became obsolete without being replaced, leaving the
country with no external defense capability.

To upgrade
the entire military’s capabilities, the DND and AFP are working to fast-track
the approval by July this year of a total of 138 contracts.

The
contracts, mostly aimed at boosting badly depleted air and naval assets, would
be implemented for the duration of the Aquino administration.

Qantas
Defence Services is close to completing the conversion of Australia's fifth,
and final, Airbus Military A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT).

The aircraft
will be handed over to Airbus Military next week, with the European company to
install the aerial refuelling boom, says Qantas Aviation Services head Glenn
Brown. Qantas Defence Services is a unit of Qantas Aviation Services.

Industry
sources in Australia suggest the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) will not
obtain a sixth A330 MRTT, which is designated the KC-30A in RAAF service.

Brown says
that it would be very difficult for Qantas Defence Services to re-start the
A330 MRTT conversion programme. Some contractors who worked on the programme
have already moved on to other work within the Qantas Group or at other
companies.

Such staff
changes will cause a degree of institutional knowledge related to A330 MRTT
conversions to be lost.

Moreover,
other team members who worked on the conversions will move to other work. Last
week, Qantas Airways said it would close its Boeing 737 maintenance operations
at Melbourne's Tullarmrine Airport, with this work moving to Brisbane.

Brown,
however, says that personnel who worked on the conversion programme have a
"bright future." Aside from supporting KC-30A maintenance repair and
overhaul work in Brisbane, staff previously involved in conversion work will
also help with 737 work.

Airbus
Military has previously said the fifth A330 MRTT would be delivered to the RAAF
in the third quarter of 2012.

Separately,
Brown said that Qantas Defence Services has submitted a proposal to the RAAF
for the conversion of four Lockheed Martin C-130H aircraft which could be
donated to Indonesia.

Brown says
"tripartite talks" are underway between Australia, Indonesia, and the
United States about these aircraft. Australia obtained the aircraft under the
Foreign Military Sales (FMS) mechanism, and needs US clearance for the
Indonesian transaction to take place.

26 Mei 2012

PERTH, Australia (UPI) -- The Aerosonde small unmanned
aerial system is to be powered by efficient heavy fuel engines from Orbital
Corp. of Australia.

Orbital, a provider of engine and vehicle technologies and
alternative fuel solutions, said the contract from AAI Unmanned Aircraft
Systems is worth about $4.7 million

The engines, to be used on the latest configuration of the
Aerosonde, use the Orbital's FlexDI Engine Management system to enable spark
ignition operation of heavy fuels such as JP5 and JP8. Use of those fuels meets
U.S. Navy requirements to eliminate gasoline fuels.

The U.S. Navy and Special Operations Command recently
contracted AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems -- a U.S. company and subsidiary of
Textron Systems -- to provide SUAS fee-for-service operations using the
Aerosonde.

"New ground had to be broken with AAI to meet their
aggressive SUAS engine requirements, and we have been able to successfully
develop and supply the demonstration engines from our Perth facility," said Terry Stinson,
chief executive officer and managing director of Orbital. "This success
now leads to production supply of engine systems.

"This is good example of Australian innovation, and
demonstrates Orbital's engineering and product development capabilities."

Orbital said its engine for the SUAS can improve the
aircraft's mission range by 40 percent or alternatively allow for greater and
heavier vehicle payloads.

Aerosonde Pty Ltd. in Australia, a subsidiary of AAI, is
a manufacturer of small UAS vehicles.

The number of engines to be delivered was not disclosed, but
Orbital indicated deliveries would take place this year.

QUEZON CITY, (PIA) --
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) is planning to revive the famed "Blue
Diamond" Squadron as soon as it acquires new aircraft capable of defending
the country's airspace and humanitarian missions.

This was learned from PAF spokesman Col. Miguel Ernesto Okol
in an exlusive interview at Villamor Air Base (VAB) in PasayCity.

Okol said the highest priority is the revival of the
country’s Air Defense System (ADS) which is in the form of Lead-in Fighter
Trainers (LIFT)-Surface Attack Aircraft (SAA) role to be used for territorial
defense as well as infrastructure.

Hawker Beechcraft demonstrated their AT-6B Texan II, together
with their other aircraft line, on April 2012 with a display at Clark Air Base

PAF retired its fleet of Northrop F-5A/B Freedom Fighter
with a ceremony on October 1, 2005. The F-5s were used by the PAF's Blue
Diamonds aerobatics team and have appeared in several films and television
programs shot in the Philippines.

Okol said PAF is prioritizing the resurgence of its
capability by acquiring leading multi-role fighter jets and other aircraft with
disaster response capability. “If we already have a hundred fighter planes then
we can revive the Blue Diamonds,” he said.

In June 2010, the Department of National Defense (DND) was
also looking at Canada for
used CF-18s or France
for its used Mirage F1s, although no decision or purchase came up

The PAF official said a country’s precision aerobatics team
carries the type of a combat aircraft of a nation.

The United
States has the “Thunderbirds” for the Air
Force and “Blue Angels” for the Navy.

Recently, PAF acquired multi-role helicopters worth P 2.8
billion which the Philippines
received as part of its modernization program.

The new W-3 Sokol (Falcon) helicopters are used for combat
support as well as disaster relief missions.

“Our pilots are already training for the use of four of
these newly acquired aircraft in time for the rainy season,” Okol said.
(PAF/RJB/JCA-PIA NCR)

The navy has given up on its plan to buy six second-hand
submarines and will opt for a high-capacity frigate instead.

A committee, chaired by navy chief Surasak Roonroengrom,
recently met to discuss the navy's strategic defence plan and its budget.

It resolved to scrap the plan to buy six second-hand
submarines for a total of 7.5 billion baht from Germany, a navy source said
yesterday.

The navy's hopes for the submarines were dashed due to
political intervention and heavy criticism from opponents.

The project hit several stumbling blocks after it was
proposed by former navy chief Adm Kamthorn Pumhiran, said the source. There was
also an internal rift among navy officers.

"Actually, it's the best opportunity for the country to
buy the German-made submarines, which are good and recognised worldwide.

"As the chances have diminished, the navy has to look
for other things," the source said.

The navy could not afford to buy new submarines as they cost
about 20 billion baht each.

One report emerged that the submarine project had not been
brought up at the recent cabinet meeting as the authorities were waiting for a
reply from the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary and the
Royal Household Bureau on whether the project was suitable or not. But Supreme
Commander Gen Thanasak Patimapakorn strongly denied the rumour.

As the submarine project has been scrapped, the navy has
also decided to give up on its plan to buy two anti-submarine helicopters worth
about 2 billion baht. It would instead propose the procurement of one frigate,
said the source.

The navy has been allocated a budget of 35 billion baht for
this fiscal year.

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Navy
needs almost P500 billion to buy ships to effectively secure the country's vast
territorial waters, a Navy official said Thursday.

The amount will go to the purchase of frigates, corvettes,
patrol vessels, landing craft, submarines, and other vesseks and equipment,
according to Lt. Commander Nerelito Martinez, Philippine Fleet acting chief of
staff for plans and programs.

He said the need for such vessels and new equipment was
thoroughly assessed during the Navy's strategic planning workshop last year.

"Current market research and assessment will give us a
figure of about P497 billion for the acquisition of all the listed equipment.
It may be costly at our current standards but is not unrealistic," Martinez said.

The vessels that the Navy needs now are 6 frigates
configured for anti-air warfare. The frigates will be able to carry
helicopters.

"The vessels shall be deployed for naval deterrence and
naval presence in critical areas. The vessels shall also be deployed to support
the country's international defense and security engagements having (the)
capability for long-range high seas navigation," Martinez said.

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has secured funding for
flight trials of a number of embarked UAVs as it works towards its ambition of
having a naval UAV squadron before 2020.

Speaking at the UV-Pacific conference being held on the Gold
Coast, Australia
on 24 May, Lt Cdr Bob Ferry, naval UAS development project manager, said that
over the coming financial year trials would be carried out on the ScanEagle,
Aerosonde and Camcopter.

‘We are about to tap into the existing Insitu Scan Eagle
contract – we are signing up for 300 hours in the next financial year to
continue experimentation. I am going to spread it amongst these three
[platforms] – primarily Scan Eagle for 300 hours,’ Ferry said.

He noted that first of class flight trials (FOCFT) would be
carried out on an ANZAC frigate in September 2012 and would then take place on
HMAS Choules in early 2013. Open ocean warfare experimentation would be carried
out in November 2012 while the navy plans to do patrol boat trials using ‘hub
and spoke’ land-based operations.

The RAN currently has no UAS systems in service and there
are no acquisition projects in place. However, there are plans for this to
change and a Naval Unmanned Aerial Systems Development Unit (NUASDU) was formed
in February 2010 to study the issue through to mid-2013.

With Australia
working on a new defence white paper, which is expected to be released next
year, there is expectation that naval UAV operations will be mandated, despite
the ‘current fiscal and manpower constraints’ that are hampering its
introduction.

‘The 2009 white paper made mention of UAVs on ships. It said
we could operate them but didn’t give us much leverage to go and spend millions
of dollars. A force structure review paper on UAVs was specifically asked for
by CN [Chief of the Navy] and he endorsed it in February, with the intent of it
going forward into the next white paper,’ Ferry explained.

‘What’s it going to say? What I hope it says is what I wrote
for CN – all navy vessels will be fitted for and with a UAS. We need to have
them out there and they need to be involved in everything we do.’

Ferry noted that the Naval Aviation Vision 2020 forecasts
the establishment of a naval UAV squadron before 2020 and the navy is still
tracking towards that.

The issues that need to be resolved for this to happen
include: determining what the UAS controller/maintainer qualifications ought to
be, especially given the UAS will be required to operate in civil airspace;
what the system certification be and would they be state registered, ADF owned
or civil registered; and interoperability between ship classes and other ADF
assets.

‘We have got to make sure there is interoperability, not
just between our ships but between those others we play with and that’s one of
the nuts we need to crack as well.’

To help resolve some of these issues, the navy has embedded
two personnel into the Royal Australian Air Force Number 5 Flight, which
operates the Heron UAV, to bring back feedback from their experience.

24 Mei 2012

The Heron 1
UAV (above) will replace the Searcher-class UAV that has been in service since
1994. (photo : Sing Mindef)

The Republic
of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) enhanced the intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of the 3rd Generation Singapore Armed Forces
(SAF) as it inaugurated the Heron 1 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) into 119
Squadron (SQN) on 23 May.

Minister for
Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen, who officiated at the inauguration ceremony at Murai
Camp, pointed out that the SAF's vision for UAVs started as early as the 70s,
quoting Singapore's first Defence Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee: "For our kind
of terrain, we must have Remotely Piloted Vehicles. We must see the enemy without
being seen."

"The
UAVs have realised the vision of SAF’s founding pioneers but only through
continued investments to develop this capability," he added. "As a
result, the SAF today is an advanced user of UAVs... (which) are used routinely
in exercises as well as in operations."

Highlighting
the importance of the UAV in transforming the SAF into a modern and effective
fighting force, Dr Ng noted that the Heron 1 UAV will "provide our
commanders, planners and soldiers on the ground (with) better situational
awareness to make timely and informed decisions to engage the adversary
decisively and complete their missions effectively".

Featuring
state-of-the-art avionics, detection capabilities and communication systems,
the Heron 1 UAV will replace the Searcher-class UAV that has been in service
since 1994.

Compared to
its predecessor, which has a maximum operating altitude of 10,000 feet, the
Heron 1 UAV can fly twice as high at 20,000 feet. It has a flight endurance of
over 24 hours, more than three times that of the Searcher UAV (eight hours).
Furthermore, the Heron 1 UAV has a maximum operating range of 200km, double
that of the Searcher-class.

The advanced
UAV is also equipped with an Automatic Take Off and Landing (ATOL) system,
which allows a desired flight route to be scheduled prior to launch, and is
able to return to a pre-designated recovery point at the end of its mission.
This enhances the timeliness in which information is disseminated, as UAV
operators can focus on collecting and processing information instead of flight
operations.

Lieutenant-Colonel
(LTC) Kenneth Won, Commanding Officer of 119 SQN, was proud of his squadron's
achievements in being the first UAV squadron to operate the Heron 1.

"It's
not always been smooth-sailing; there have been a lot of challenges along the
way but we've achieved a key milestone in bringing in this new capability. More
importantly, we have built a team in which the operational and logistics crew
are strongly integrated."

The Heron 1
UAV (right) will replace the Searcher-class UAV (left) that has been in service
since 1994. (photo : Sing Mindef)

He noted
that the Heron 1 UAV's advanced surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities
will provide the RSAF with "sharper eyes" in the skies, which will be
an important component in the complex battle environment of the future.

Officer
Commanding of 119 SQN and UAV Pilot Major (MAJ) Low Jun Horng commented on how
the improved systems of the Heron 1 UAV have made it more mission-effective:
"The Heron 1 provides us with an enhanced situational awareness of the
battlefield as it has better detection capability and three times the flight
endurance of the Searcher UAV... It also gives us the ability to see things in
colour as compared to the monochrome video system of the Searcher UAV. This
allows us to detect targets that could not have been detected previously with
the Searcher."

Paying
tribute to the personnel of 119 SQN, Dr Ng said: "The advanced
surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities of the Heron 1 UAV are, however,
only as effective as the people who operate and maintain them. I would like
therefore to commend all of you, the men and women of 119 Squadron, who have
worked tirelessly in the last year to ready the Heron 1 UAV systems to support
the SAF's operations."

Senior
Parliamentary Secretary for Defence and National Development Dr Mohamad Maliki
Bin Osman, Chief of Air Force Major-General Ng Chee Meng and senior officers
from the SAF were also present at the ceremony.

Lovitt
Technologies had won a contract with Boeing valued at nearly $1 million for
wing parts for the worldwide F/A-18 Super Hornet fleet. (photo : RAAF)

Minister for
Defence Materiel Jason Clare today announced that Victorian-based company
Lovitt Technologies had won a contract with Boeing valued at nearly $1 million
for wing parts for the worldwide F/A-18 Super Hornet fleet.

“This is an
outstanding achievement for Lovitt technologies and is the result of their hard
work and demonstrates their high level of manufacturing capability,” Mr Clare
said.

Lovitt
Technologies employs around 80 staff and specialises in machining, assembly and
testing of aero structures. Lovitt Technologies also recently won another
contract with Boeing to supply machined parts to Boeing for the V-22 Osprey.

Lovitt is
one of several Australian companies that have in recent months been successful
under the Global Supply Chain (GSC) program in penetrating the overseas export
market. It has been engaged in the Australian Government’s Global Supply Chain
Program since the program’s launch in 2009.

Six global
defence prime contractors – Boeing, Raytheon, Thales, Northrop Grumman and more
recently BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin – are now actively engaged in the
Global Supply Chain program implemented through the Defence Materiel
Organisation.

The contract
awarded to Lovitt also reinforces Boeing’s ongoing commitment to Australian
industry through the Global Supply Chain Program,” Mr Clare said.

“The Global
Supply Chain Program continues to provide an avenue for capable Australian
companies seeking to win export work with international defence primes.

“The value
of export contracts won to date that have been facilitated through the Global
Supply Chain Program is now more than $446 million,” Mr Clare said.